Music
Song of The Day-May 18th
Jimmy Buffett-Volcano
Album: Volcano
B-Side: “Stranded on a Sandbar”
Release Date: Nov. 1979
Highest Chart Position (US)
Living under a looming threat and widespread mask use is a new phenomenon for most of us. For those of a certain age living in the Pacific Northwest, it evokes memories of 1980.
Living in the shadows of the Cascade mountains, it’s easy to forget that it’s a volcanic range. Easy that is, until Mother Nature reminds you. And so it was in late 1979/early 1980 with Mt. St. Helens.
At first, the eruptions were nominal enough; some steam here, a small landslide there. Later as they grew in scale, ash began to rain down on downwind communities, and painter masks became de rigueur fashion.
This culminated with a cataclysmic eruption on May 18th, 1980, that changed people’s lives — and the landscape — forever.